I don't get what you mean Sorrior. That all of what happened now is contributing to the final arc? Yes I do believe that's what's happening but it seems obvious.

LOL no no no...See this wasn't originally gonna be the last arc Kubo himself said he had like 10 years plus of story he could mid fullbring. I'm saying I wonder if originally we would have visited all the worlds had Ichigo literally be part everything and become some sort of unifying power.

My question is who is Mizuiro really? He identifies a man he never has even met correctly just because he heard his name yelled out. It would be hard to identify Shunsui if you could not see the haori of the other captains since he usually has the kimono covering his. Plus if Mizuiro did see him after Aizen's defeat, it would been hard to tell he was a captain since he lost the haori in his fight with Starrk, he would look like a rank and file shinigami. Since he was injured, I doubt the 4th squad would want normal human beings wandering around where captains are being treated for their injuries.

There's some small speculation out there that Mizuiro is actually a shinigami or at least not completely a human.

There's some evidence to support it:

-his understanding of the Seireitei seems oddly high
-if he isn't really that young, that could explain his attraction to older women
-older women seem to like him, maybe he is using a power?
-he's really ballsy, like when he wanted to test if super Aizen's reiatsu could really destroy things

And some evidence against it:

-if he is a shinigami, it would have to be pretty recent, as Uryuu never detected his shinigami ribbon thing way back when Uryuu was introduced
-he would have to have a way to completely suppress his reiatsu all this time and remain undetected

Depending on how this last chapter is interpreted, and only time will tell what it really means, there's a couple possibilities:

Shunsui is up to something underhanded using Ichigo's friends?
Shunsui is warning them that Ichigo's reiatsu will be so dense after his training, they might not be able to be around him or he may not be able to return to the human world.

Well. It seems. Hmmm. Ichigo is gonna be too strong and he'll fuck up the human world. And. Soul tickets lol? Whatever. All that hell butterfly stuff went down the drain I suppose. But whatever. 9 days hmmm. It looks like a 3 man attack against Soul Society again right now? And time for Ichigo to test out his new powers?

Total mother fucking spoilers about future of Bleach (which was a part of this week's Shonen Jump, so it's not TOO spoilerish):

After this weeks issue, Bleach will be on hiatus from Jump 35-40. Starting from jump 41 (09/09), the last arc "1000 years Blood Ward Arc - The Separation Story" will start.

Before the last battle, i will be going on a long hiatus so that I can approach the final battle fully charged and give it my absolute all. When the manga resumes, please prepare yourselves for the "1000 years Blood Ward Arc - The Separation Story".

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This week is 34 btw.

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Sooooooo. It seems like the final battle is REALLY about to happen. It's not gonna be drawn out at all. I guess the battles themselves will take a while but there's no interim for Ichigo to go home as I posted above.

The "Bleach final act" rumor started when the anime stopped and Inuyasha was still on peoples minds. NO OFFICIAL SOURCE has EVER said it will.

Thus waiting for it to continue until outright told otherwise is kinda foolish IMO.

And damn 5 week waits gonna suck.

also does ANYONE else feel this arc is rushed?

Because again I can't help but remember how right before the final arc announcement he said he had 10 years worth of content...I reaooy fewl like he was pressured to end it fast.

Bleach's popularity is waning, the original audience has gotten much older, same thing with naruto, there just isnt much there that will get the newer generation of readers interested in SJ's mind, so they would most likely put a little pressure on the old crew to make room for the new hotness

Bleach's popularity is waning, the original audience has gotten much older, same thing with naruto, there just isnt much there that will get the newer generation of readers interested in SJ's mind, so they would most likely put a little pressure on the old crew to make room for the new hotness

Toriko and Fairy Tail for instance have surged to popularity.

If people haven't noticed, a LOT of Mangas are ending this year.

Gantz ended.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn ended.

Soul Eater ends next month, as does Deadman Wonderland.

Naruto ends next year.

Bleach ends next year.

The list goes on and on.

One Piece is really the only story that's been able to hold everyone's interest for years on end.